Took Zoë to visit St. Nick yesterday. We weren't sure how it was going to go, since last year she wanted nothing to do with the man. This year, however, Grandma and Grandpa were there to help ease her into it, and the whole thing turned out very very nice. :)

First, some ponderings about our favorite man in red. When I was a boy - Santas had overly white fake beards, probably made out of recycled garbage bags and were stuffed to the gills with pillows or other some such. Nowadays - Mr. Claus sports a real beard (as every kid knows), and not as much padding (if any). High quality suits, and environments magical and whimsical enough to befit the King of Yule.

While the Mall we took Z to to get her picture is not large or particularly upscale, the Santa picture taking bit was quite deluxe. The people very friendly (must be a Canadian Santa thing ;) ) and Mr. S himself was top notch. He noticed right away that Z was nervous, invited her to bring her Grandpa up with her, and started talking to her immediately about how she was, how old, etc. Z was immediately made to feel safe and loved, and she sat there like a queen. Once they started taking pictures, she was over whatever nervousness she had and was getting into the whole ritual with typical toddler fervor. :)